


Of Monsters and Mayhem

by DaPokemonMadster, Vex_ation



Category: Pocket Monsters SPECIAL | Pokemon Adventures
Genre: F/F, F/M, Hey crazy fun times, M/M, Want to see the dexholders as monsters?, i sure do
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-08
Updated: 2018-06-07
Packaged: 2018-12-13 00:57:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11748786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaPokemonMadster/pseuds/DaPokemonMadster, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vex_ation/pseuds/Vex_ation
Summary: For most people, Radio Tower is just that. A tower built for the radio. But for Crystal, member of the Monster Protection Department of the Magical Committee of Goldenrod, it's much more. However, things go awry when Gold, member-in-training of Crystal's department, accidentally breaks something important and sets monsters loose in the city.





	1. Oops, That Was Important

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, hi, hello. So I came up with this AU idea with a pal a month or so ago, and then they started an AU fanfic contest on their blog (incorrect-pokespe-quotes on tumblr), so I decided to write this up for fun and enter! I'm having tons of fun with it and have a lot of ideas for it, so with any luck, I should have more chapters coming! Hope you enjoy!

Crystal knew things weren’t going her way the moment her best friend screwed her over, she became the babysitter for all of nineteen people, and became the sole barrier between peace and anarchy for the city of Goldenrod. It was… an undesirable situation, to say the least. And it had all begun with the guy in front of her, sitting on the couch with a guilty expression and fidgety hands.

“Alright Gold, let me get this straight,” She began, pacing around her desk and glancing at him over the top of her glasses. She set her clipboard down on the desk sharply, and Gold gulped.

“You, a member of the department of monster protection, _accidentally_ managed to bust the program? It’s a giant machine, how does that even work?”

“Hey, hey. It’s not as bad as you make it sound,” Gold butted in, raising his hands in defense. “I’m not a _member_. I’m a member in training.”

“That makes it worse.”

“Does it?”

“Okay, you know what? That’s really not the problem here. I don’t care how your mediocre, in-training amulet somehow had enough power to damage the cloaking-”

“You totally care.” Gold cut her off.

“Shut up for a minute!!” Crystal took a deep breath and set her glasses down, regaining her composure, “As I was saying, the _bigger_ problem is that you literally busted the cloaking machine-”

“Crystal, if you’re gonna talk to me about what I did in a professional setting, you should use the proper names for everything.” Gold interrupted, a disgusting smirk on his face. Crystal’s grip tightened on the edge of the desk.

“The bigger problem,” She hissed, “is that you busted the _glamorizer_ \- stop laughing Gold or so help me I will kick you out of that window - and now every monster in the city has lost their cover. Do you even know what this means?”

“Thaaaat you’re gonna have to work overtime.”

“More like you’ve jeopardized the safety of innocent civilians, but y’know, that too,” Crystal answered wearily, slumping into her chair and pinching the bridge of her nose. “Also don’t think for a second that I’ll be the only one working overtime. You got us into this mess, you’ll be helping us out of it.”

“That suuuuuucks. How long did you say this is gonna take?” Gold sighed, sticking a pinky up his nose.

“I didn’t. But we’ll find out the extent of the damage soon enough.” Crystal replied, anxiously twisting the bracelet on her wrist. As if on cue, the gem on her bracelet flashed twice.

“Speak of the devil… seems they’re finished inspecting the-” she paused at the look on Gold’s face, and sighed. “ _Glamorizer_. C’mon, you’re coming with me.”

“What, so they can chew me out again? Nah, I’d rather stay here.” Gold whined.

“And I’m not giving you a choice.” Crystal said threateningly, walking over and grabbing for his hoodies strings. He ducked under her hand and stood up, grumbling.

“Fine, fine. I’m coming.”

The two of them walked down the hall in an uncomfortable silence. It was a surprisingly narrow walkway, considering it was in the upper reaches of one of the largest buildings in all of Goldenrod. Most non-magical folk simply knew it as Radio Tower, but contrary to the name, the tower had nothing to do with the radio at all. Most folks had never seen the interior of the building, in fact, only those that worked there could enter. And that was a very small amount of people. The two walked past tall, glass windows that overlooked the city. It was a terribly gloomy evening, and the tiny lights flickering from houses were barely discernable under the thick sheet of rain that smattered against the side of Radio Tower. Crystal looked out at the gray wall of clouds and twisted her bracelet again. Despite her denial, her curious mind couldn’t help but mull the incident over. She was baffled as to how Gold’s tiny, training ring had enough power to fry the most important, not to mention most protected, machine in the entire tower. It was doubtful that even she, with her powerful Z-bracelet, would’ve been able to put a dent in the machine under normal circumstances. Not to mention that Gold could still barely use magic, and was nowhere near to mastering his ring. But what was worse was that, as his overseer and assistant head of the department, Crystal would be held responsible for the slipup.

Reaching the end of the hallway, Gold and Crystal pulled up short at a heavy, steel door. Crystal held her left wrist up to a sensor where a door handle would normally be, and the gem on her bracelet flashed. With a pneumatic hiss, the door slid open. The two of them walked into a spacious elevator, and Crystal turned on her heel to punch a code into the keypad to the right of the door. With a sigh, she stepped back, impatiently tapping her foot as the elevator began its ascent. Gold leaned against the back wall, tapping out a rhythm on the chrome with his finger nails. They waited in awkward silence as the neon floor count slowly rose.

With a small _ding_ , the doors slid open, and the two walked into an enormous, circular room. It was situated at the top of Radio Tower, right below the spire that supposedly transmitted radio waves. Well, it _did_ do that, but it had another function, too.

Crystal stared in awe at the giant wonder of technology in front of her. It never failed to amaze her, with the sheer size and complexity, the cloaking device was a sight to behold. It took up nearly the entire room; a mountain of shining pipes, panels and blinking lights that reached all the way to the ceiling, spitting steam and letting out various whistles and clicking noises. A shame that it had to have such a stupid name.

“Ah, there you are!” Somebody said, and Gold and Crystal whipped around to see a man rising from a seat at his desk. He looked harried and worn, his lab coat disheveled and glasses slipping down his nose. Even his curious swoop of blue hair looked limp.

“Head scientist Colress,” Crystal nodded. “What’s the news?”

“Nothing good, I’m afraid,” Colress sighed. “As we know, the Glamorizer is a machine based around two concepts. Science, and magic. It is the pride and joy of the monster protection department, and keeps normal humans from seeing and recognizing monstrous behaviors. In fact, most humans, with the exception of very open-minded ones, have no idea that monsters exist. But the most useful function, is that it keeps monsters from realizing that they themselves _are_ monsters. The Glamorizer completely blocks monstrous instincts and behaviors, allowing our beastly little friends to live their lives like any normal human. This makes it much easier to protect them, and keep chaos from breaking loose.” Crystal nodded. Gold looked confused.

“Right. Well, there wouldn’t be much of a problem if the damage had been to the mechanical parts of the Glamorizer… that I could fix in a heartbeat. The ‘science’ bit is my specialty, after all. But unfortunately, the damage seems to be more internal. More… magical, if you will.”

“Just our luck…” Crystal groaned, “ _How_ the _hell_ did you manage this, Gold?”

“Hey man, you guys are the smart ones. You tell me.” Gold shrugged, and Colress cracked a smile.

“Yes, well, I would if I could. But I truly am stumped on how your ring managed this.” He said, running a hand through his swoop.

“How long do you think it’ll be before you can fix it?” Crystal asked tentatively. “Or do I even want to know?”

“According to my calculations… well, at the bare minimum it’ll take me at least a month.” Colress sighed, adjusting his glasses.

“A _month_!? The monsters of Goldenrod will be without protection for an entire month!?” Crystal squawked.

“At least,” Colress nodded grimly, “And I’m afraid that’s not the whole of it.”

“Oh no… well, let’s hear it.” Crystal said in a muffled tone, burying her head in Gold’s shoulder.

“As you know, we have profiles of every known monster in the city. They’re top secret and kept completely private, of course, but they contain information on the species, names, and addresses of each monster. Well… it seems… somehow… all of those profiles were completely erased from the system. I’m running a recovery program now, but currently we aren’t in possession of that information.” Colress said helplessly.

“What am I supposed to do with that?” Crystal moaned. “Not only do we now have a city’s worth of monsters on our hands, but we don’t even know who they are!?”

“Yes, it is quite the problem.” Colress sighed.

“Indeed, it is,” A new voice said, and the three of them turned to see a woman with an impressive beehive hairdo clicking towards them in heels. Crystal had a theory that working with magic had a correlation to gravity-defying hair.

“Professor Juniper!” She said, standing up straight.

“Hello, Crystal. Colress.” She said, cooly. Gold looked offended she hadn’t mentioned him. “This is quite a mess, isn’t it?”

“It is, Professor. I trust you read the full report I sent you?” Colress asked, and Juniper nodded.

“I did,” She turned to look at Crystal, “And I understand that the trainee you were overseeing is responsible?”

“I... yes, professor.” Crystal answered.

“Well, while I understand that accidents happen, this is a very serious issue and must be resolved immediately. We no longer have access to our files, but the monsters out there will still need to be found, calmed, and protected. They pose a danger to both the human civilians, and themselves. So, Crystal and Gold, as the ones responsible, I will be assigning you two the duty of finding the monsters in the city, documenting them, and keeping them safe.” Juniper said, matter-of-factly. Crystal felt her stomach plummet. It was a daunting job, and Juniper knew it.

“Luckily,” Colress butted in, “There’s only about one monster in every four hundred people. That cuts down the number significantly. There should be no more than twenty monsters, according to those odds. Though, that still leaves you the task of _finding_ those people in a city of roughly eight thousand…”

“Inspiring, Colress,” Juniper said in a very flat tone. “Under normal circumstances, I would confiscate both of your artifacts for this incident. But something tells me you’re going to need magic for this job. Please start right away. This is a matter of the utmost urgency. And, as a precaution in case dear Colress here is unable to recover the files, I’m giving this to you.” Juniper handed Crystal a small red device.

“It looks like a DS.” Gold whispered.

“It’s an electronic encyclopedia of sorts. It contains a large wealth of information on monsters. If you get close enough to a monster, it should automatically tell you what kind of monster it is. All you have to do is enter the name of the person in question, and it will create a new file. I call it the Monsterdex. It’s our backup, so be very careful with it.” Juniper said, tapping the device that Crystal was clutching.

“I-I will, professor.” Crystal gulped.

“I wish you both the best of luck,” Juniper turned back towards the elevator once more. “Oh, and don’t worry. You _will_ be getting paid overtime.”

“Oh, joy. Paid overtime.” Gold said sarcastically. “That makes it all worth it.”

“Well, you two best be going. Good luck.” Colress gave them a sympathetic smile. Crystal tried to return it, and then walked briskly back to the elevator, dragging Gold along with her.

“Where are we going now?” Gold asked.

“We’re stopping by my office to grab some supplies, and then we’re heading out.” Crystal answered.

“Wait, seriously? We’re starting now!? It’s almost eight!” Gold yelped, almost jogging to keep up with Crystal as she stalked down the hallway.

“Well, too bad. Your video games and cartoons will have to wait.” Crystal snapped.

“Hey, chill out. I’m not talking about that, I mean we need to sleep, y’know? You’re already fried from today, and now we might be out there all night! Also, the cartoons are all Silver, not me.” Gold said, raising his hands in defense.

“Sleep is for the weak.” Crystal replied, turning into her office and snatching up a half-drunk cup of coffee. She downed it in one go, and opened the mini fridge in the corner of the office. She pulled out an enormous bottle of Mountain Dew and began drinking it, then tossed a second one to Gold.

“We’ll be up all night if we have to.” Crystal said, giving him a slightly manic, definitely overcaffeinated stare. Gold looked at her in genuine fear. If he had learned anything from working in her department, it was to never underestimate the power or workaholics on caffeine. Crystal slung a backpack onto her desk, quickly shoved into it the Monsterdex, a roll of duct tape, a regular, non-magical cellphone, and a six pack of unidentifiable energy drinks. Gold was concerned by the amount of neon on the drink cans.

“So uh… what’s the duct tape for?” He asked, tentatively.

“Gold, there’s _always_ a use for duct tape.” Crystal said, and with that, she swept out of the office. Gold followed, grabbing Crystal’s umbrella on the way out. He followed her at a distance, sneakers squeaking along the white tiled floors. Then all but sprinted down the stairs trying to keep up with Crystal. As she neared the sliding front doors, he grabbed her shoulder. Opening the umbrella, he let her go and the two of them walked outside together.

It was only drizzling, leaving a wet, freshness to the air, and the smell of grass. The air still crackled with distant thunder, but the thick bank of black clouds had started to recede. It was dark, everything seemed to be a mix of inky blues and grays. The temperature had dropped as well, and Gold was suddenly very grateful for his red hoodie as their breath fogged out in front of them. They walked up to the edge of the road, standing on the curb and looking down the street.

“I can’t believe we’re going out in this weather to hunt down monsters. This seems like a really poor plan.” Gold grumbled.

“Job’s a jo- uh oh. That might be a problem.” Crystal murmured.

“What?” Gold said, following Crystal’s gaze into the sky. The fog of clouds was thinning fast, leaving tiny wisps scudding away from the golden face of a very bright, concerningly round moon.

“Please tell me that’s not a full moon. That is _not_ a full moon. Was there supposed to be a full moon tonight? What’s the date? Do we have werewolves in this city!?” Crystal said in a rush, fishing in her bag for the phone. She froze at the sound of faint beeping. With trembling fingers she pulled out the Monsterdex, and the beeping got stronger.  A small, red light was flashing on the exterior.

“Gold. Gold where is it? Where’s the monster?” She hissed, looking up and down the street for any sign of movement.

“Uh, Crystal?” Gold stammered, his voice at a much higher pitch than normal.

“What? Do you see it!?” She said frantically.

“No, uh, I think we have a slightly bigger problem…” He replied, sounding very un-Goldlike. Crystal whirled around, and met Gold’s wide, terrified eyes. Then she realized that there was fur sprouting on his face and hands, and his head seemed to be getting longer as he doubled over…

“Oh.” She said.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, all! Oof, it's been a hot minute since I posted chapter one of this fic. Uhhhh I'm on break now so hopefully I'll be more motivated and active on here cuz I really am excited to work on this fic in particular! Anyhoo, enjoy, see ya'll later (soon, I hope), and leave a comment to let me know whatcha think!

Crystal raced down the dimly lit sidewalk, heart slamming against her ribcage and breath clawing at her throat. She skidded on the pavement, still slick from the rain, and made a sharp turn. She tripped on a crack, caught herself on a mailbox, and continued running, chasing after the patter of feet from something large blundering down the road, and the distressed howls that accompanied it. She was still trying to wrap her mind around what had happened, not quite believing that it was real. One minute, Gold had been standing in front of her, the next, he’d been doubled over with pain and then, there’d been a split second when she’d caught sight of red fur and slavering jaws before…  _ whatever-it-was _ bolted. As Crystal ran past, she noticed the bushes and beds of flowers lining the road had been trampled into the dirt, and gulped. 

“Dammit, Gold, I can’t  _ believe _ this,” She fumed to herself. She rounded yet another corner and realized they were heading towards a populous downtown square, full of street vendors and tourist traps selling dinky souvenirs. She sped up, feeling her legs burn. The more people saw him, the worse the situation would get. Altering memory was, unfortunately, not a form of magic in her inventory. Her path was suddenly illuminated with an increased number of streetlamps, pooling an ugly, yellow light on the cracked pavement, and Crystal stumbled to a slower gait as she neared the square, not wanting to draw much attention to herself, sweaty and disheveled as she was. Though, if Gold was anywhere in sight, she doubted she’d be considered a spectacle. She cast her eyes around warily. There was no trace of red fur, or disturbance. Music and raucous laughter were blaring from a group of people dancing outside a bar, a few couples and tourists casually made their way around, staring in windows and never stopping to buy, and good smells and chatter came from a mess of food trucks parked in a jumble, taking up more room than necessary. Crystal cautiously made her way deeper, on high alert for any change in the atmosphere. She found it when screams erupted near the food vendors. She twisted her bracelet and rushed over, not quite knowing what to prepare for. 

She wasn’t ready for what she found. The beast was big. Not as big as her imagination may have suggested, but still formidable. The street lights shone on dark red fur, long and lanky limbs that ended in sharp, black claws, glowing, red eyes, and a curiously large tuft of white fur that ran along its back and came over the top of its head like some strange mohawk. It stood at least six feet tall on its hind legs, and currently it was sitting, quite content, feasting upon hotdogs in the wreckage of a cart. 

“... Are you kidding me.” Crystal said, in a flat tone. The beast - Gold, she supposed - lifted his head and wagged his stumpy tail at the sight of her. She heaved a long sigh. Gold went back to eating hotdogs. 

“Okay. No, nope, nuh-uh. We can’t stay here. Do you realize how many people have already seen you?” Crystal asked. Gold gave yet another innocent wag. “The answer is too many.” She sighed again and raised her left hand. Her bracelet glinted in the dim light. Closing her eyes, Crys focused her concentration and tapped into her reserve of magic. A pulse of cool air emitted from the bracelet, and the lights in the square winked out like candles in a stiff breeze. Turning her attention back to Gold, Crystal flicked her wrist and the gem in her bracelet began to glow, giving her barely enough light to make out his silhouette. She approached him cautiously, hoping he was as harmless as he seemed to be. Gently, she reached out and stroked him with the tips of her fingers. He snuffled at her hand. Without making any sudden movements, she flattened her palm on his shoulder blade. His red eyes, glowing in the darkness, flitted upwards to meet hers, and for a second she felt her heart freeze in fear. Then he simply cocked his head in confusion. 

“I think I might actually prefer you in this form.” She grumbled, running her hand through his thick tuft of white fur. It was incredibly soft. He looked away from her, turning his attention back towards the hotdogs. 

“Oh no you don’t,” Crys said, grabbing one of his paws and throwing his arm around her shoulders. “You’re coming with me, buddy.” He whined pitifully as she dragged him away from the mess of splattered food.

“Stop it, you don’t want to eat more of that. Do you know what hotdogs are made of?” She said. Rhetorical question, but it seemed to do the trick. Gold whined again, but stopped resisting as she pulled him away from the corner of street vendors.  _ Now what? _ Crystal thought to herself. She needed somewhere to hide Gold until he turned back.  _ If  _ he turned back. People were already starting to gather, standing at the edge of the patch of shadow, murmuring about the lights. Crystal knew it wouldn’t be long before the braver of their numbers began to blindly plunge towards her. 

“Alright, uhhhh, well, I hope your roommate’s not in.” She whispered to Gold, pulling him away from the people in the square and into a back alley. Gold licked her cheek. 

“You’re no help at all.” She grumbled. 

* * *

Gold’s apartment was a cheap, old, ten story on the shadier side of town. It was stuck so close between a line of other identical buildings, it felt like there was no room to breathe. Crystal hated walking down this street, especially at night. Not because of the group of people with cigarettes in their mouths and beers clutched in their hands giving her funny stares from across the road, but because she felt trapped. The stars were so far above, and the towering apartments so tall, she always felt like she was walking at the bottom of a ravine. A disgusting, smelly ravine with piss in the street, but that was beside the point. Gold’s building was in shambles, practically falling apart, but as he had been out of a job before getting picked up by the Magical Committee, and god knows what his roommate, Silver, did for a living, it’d been all the two of them could afford.

Besides, Gold liked living on the shady side of town; there was a certain feeling to it that he seemed to revel in. It was ‘alive’ and ‘raw’ and ‘exciting,’ he said, as though catcalling men, pickpockets and societal scum could be called  _ exciting _ . 

Crystal led Gold to the apartment, straining to pull open the door to the lobby, stuck as it was in a swollen door frame. Gold watched her curiously, then seemed to tire of watching her efforts and promptly turned to pee on a fire hydrant. Crystal glared at him. She shoved her shoulder into the door and it finally swung open. Panting, she reached out to take Gold’s paw and lead him inside. Unfortunately, the frame seemed a bit too small for the massive werewolf. It took a solid 45 seconds of tugging to pull his furry body through the door and into the hallway. 

Crystal sighed as she shut the door behind her and lead Gold upstairs to the apartment. This was where things could get a little tricky.

“Hey, anyone home?” she called, knocking on the door. No answer. She knocked a little louder. Still, nothing. 

“Alright, lucky us… he’s either out or asleep.” She muttered. Not even bothering with the keys, she tapped the door handle with her left hand, bracelet letting out a flash. The door swung open with ease, and Gold whined as the smell of old sweat and pizza rose up to meet them.

“You’ve got no right to complain, this is your doing.” Crystal said, pulling her shirt up over her nose and forging ahead. Gold pawed at his nose, looking miserable, as Crystal led him inside. The interior was clearly divided. Half of the tiny living room was littered with discarded clothing items, empty take out boxes, and crumpled papers covered with an illegible scrawl. The other half had an air of sloppy neatness, everything was in its place, but it didn’t feel like there was quite enough space for everything to fit comfortably. Incredibly, Crystal knew the neat half was Gold’s side. Gold jumped up onto the couch, padding around in a circle before flopping down with a tiny, content noise in the back of his throat. Crystal sighed and walked into the cramped kitchen. The apartment itself was very small. Two bedrooms, a bathroom that was more akin to a closet, a living room with a couch, tv, and Silver’s desk and computer tucked in the corner and the kitchen, which comprised of a sink, a mini fridge, a microwave, and a water heater. Crystal often wondered how two people could live in such close proximity, especially when ‘friends’ was a gross overstatement in describing their relationship. 

Crystal rummaged around a cabinet and was pleasantly surprised to find a box of tea. Too tired to even care what kind it was, she grabbed a mug (making doubly sure that it was clean), plopped a tea bag in it and started boiling water. As she waited for the water to heat she walked back into the living room. Gold had fallen asleep curled in a ball, the tip of his tail over his nose, fur fluttering every time he breathed. He really was just like a big puppy. 

The water in the kitchen began to bubble, and Crystal returned in time to see a funnel of white steam escape the water heater before it automatically switched off. She poured a generous amount into her mug and added a pinch of sugar from the near-empty sugar pot on the table. She re-entered the living room once more with her mug clutched cozily between her hands. Pulling over Silver’s desk chair, she took a seat facing Gold, and gingerly blew on the steaming surface of her tea. Crystal didn’t feel like she should sleep. At least, not until she saw Gold change back, as she assumed (and desperately hoped) he would after the moon went down. She was fairly certain he was a werewolf… there didn’t seem to be any other explanation. In fact… she hastily set her tea down on the floor and whipped off her backpack, rummaging around in it until she found what she was looking for. The Monsterdex was wedged between two cans of energy drinks from where she’d tossed it after Gold had bolted away from her, and she quickly checked it for any scratches or marks. Juniper would’ve had her skin if she damaged such a valuable piece of technology. Opening the dex she pointed it in Gold’s direction curiously. The screen flashed and words immediately came up on the screen. 

 

**WEREWOLF. A monster that only appears on the night of a full moon.**

**A werewolf can be extremely dangerous when cornered and attacks with claws and teeth.**

**The bite of a werewolf can infect others. Proceed with caution.**

 

A more detailed description lay beneath, but Crystal’s eyes were too heavy with exhaustion to make it any further. She blinked as a window popped up over the entry. 

 

**PLEASE ENTER NAME OF SPECIMEN:**

 

Crystal frowned at the word ‘specimen’ then typed in Gold’s name. The dex informed her that a new file had been created, before she snapped it shut and stored it in her pack. She slumped backwards in her chair. The need for sleep was coming on strong, but she was determined not to succumb. She could fight it, she could- 

Before she knew it, Crystal was snoring.

* * *

She woke up to a stiff neck and cramped back. She groaned, sitting back upright and stretching. Sleeping in a chair was never a good plan. Foggily, she wiped at her eyes and combed her fingers through her twintails, in a useless attempt to make them appear less frazzled. Crystal moved her foot and it clinked against the cup of tea lying at her feet, still half full. She blearily glanced at the couch. It was vacant. A small indent in the cushions was the only indication that a werewolf had been curled up there mere hours before.

Panicked, Crystal shot to her feet, rapidly blinking the sleep away as she tried to find Gold. Whipping her head around, she found no trace of him in the living room. She flew to the kitchen, and, finding it empty, reared back around and shot across the living room to the door of Gold’s room. She flung it open so hard it slammed into the wall. Gold, who was standing in the middle of the room, back in his human form and wearing nothing but a towel around his waist, screamed and nearly jumped into the ceiling. 

“Crys!” He yelped. “A little privacy!?” 

“Oh. Sorry,” Crystal said, shutting the door as quickly as she’d opened it. She sighed with relief. “What happened to your clothes?”

“Well I just took a shower, and I wasn’t planning on anyone barging into my room,” Gold replied, the scowl in his voice clear. “Aside from that I’m glad I woke up before you, since I found myself on the couch buck naked. What the hell happened?” 

“Huh. Interesting. Do you remember anything about your transformation?” Crystal said, slowly, testing the waters.

“Transformation? I… wait. Oh my god.  _ Wait _ .” Crys heard some shuffling before Gold opened the door, now dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, and stared at her with terrified eyes. 

“Crys am I one of them? One of the monsters?” He said softly. Crys took a step back, contemplating how to tell someone that they turned into a slobbering, fluffy monster during a full moon. “Did I… hurt anybody?” 

“No! No, nobody got hurt. In fact, not  _ too  _ many people even saw you! It’s alright. I mean, you’re a werewolf, but aside from that everything’s okay.” She reassured him.

“I’m a werewolf?!” Gold yelped. 

“Well, yes, but honestly that means we only have to worry about you during the full moon! I think. And you’re not even scary. You’re pretty big, but also fluffy? And sweeter than normal. Honestly I might like you more as a werewolf than I do as a human.” 

“Rude,” He said, but smiled at the light teasing. Then his face fell. “I’m sorry, Crys. None of this would have happened if I had just listened to you, and hadn’t been screwing around. This  _ sucks  _ and I’m just- I’m sorry I landed you in this situation.” 

“Hey,” Crys said, and pulled him in for a big hug. “Thanks for apologizing. But don’t take all the blame, Juniper was right when she said I should’ve been keeping a closer eye on you. It’s partially my responsibility that this happened at all. But I mean, what’s done is done and I’d rather get this job finished so we don’t have to think about it ever again. So, uh, let’s just call it square and sort this mess out?”

“Deal,” Gold grinned, pulling away from the hug to give her a firm handshake. 

“Speaking of mess,” Crystal glanced over to Silver’s side of the living room. “I haven’t seen hide nor hair of your roommate.”

“Silver? My guess is he’s asleep.” Gold said, scratching his head. 

“What does he do for a living anyway?” Crystal wondered aloud. Gold’s face split with a wicked grin.

“Would you believe me if I told you he gets commissioned to write Proteam Omega fanfiction?”

“No way.”

“Yes way.”

“Alright, yeah, I absolutely believe that. But also, seriously?” Crystal stifled a giggle. She barely knew the guy, but she would never let Silver live this down. 

“Don’t tell him I told you, he’ll murder me,” Gold cackled, hardly looking sorry he’d tattled. “Anyways, it’s almost noon and high time the guy got out of bed.”

“Almost noon?” Crystal yelped, glancing around for a clock. “We can’t waste anymore time! Wake him up and then we’ve got to go!” Striding over to the couch, Gold picked up one of the cushions (the thing was hard as a rock and Crys was  _ positive  _ he had pulled it out of Radio Tower’s dumpster) and chucked it as hard as he could at the door to Silver’s room. It connected with a loud thunk, and dropped to the floor. No other sounds followed it. 

“Oh, weird. Now’s usually when he comes out and tries to murder me with a shoe.” Gold said. Crystal cautiously walked up to the door, and knocked.

“Silver? Are you in there? Sorry about the noise, we just want to make sure you’re awake.” She called through the keyhole. 

“Yeah, dude! The new episode for your dumb show’s supposed to start in like, six minutes! You don’t want to miss that!” Gold hollered. There was no response.

“Um. Hm. Is he normally such a heavy sleeper?” Crys asked, turning to Gold, who shrugged. 

“Depends. Sometimes the only way I can get him up is with an airhorn. Then again, once he was napping and threw a fit about me knocking over a cup from the other end of the apartment.” 

“Well, to be fair, you essentially live in a cupboard.   
“You make a good point,” Gold conceded defeat before giving the door a firm tap with his fist. “Silv! C’mon buddy, time to wake up!” 

“Okay. We should open this door and check on him.” Crystal said decisively.

“I’m sure he just stayed out with a friend or something. Maybe he’s with his sister, what’s her name, Blue.” Gold shrugged, but gripped the door handle anyway.

“Sure. Or maybe he was eaten by one of the, oh, nineteen or so monsters running around?”

“Oh, I totally forgot that was an issue for a sec,” Gold said, eyes widening. “SILVER, WE’RE COMING IN!” He yelled before twisting the handle and ramming his shoulder into the door. It flung open easily and he was sent sprawling into a heap of unwashed clothes. 

“ _ Ew _ .” He said. Crystal tapped him on the shoulder and he sat up, taking in the room around him. The sheets and curtains had been shredded, Silver’s vintage collectible Proteam Omega cards scattered, and pillow feathers and glass lay over everything like a thin film of snow. The window was busted wide open, and chilled air was whistling over the pointed shards of glass remaining embedded in the frame. 

“Well that’s not good.” Gold said. 


End file.
